Sonic Gemini by DM Ashura

That's LoLz because Time Twisted is built in the same thing and it was Moved here.

But eh the demo is a nice start but defiantly a start. I think its clear to me now that DM Ashura is going to have to use GSI to get this game running at a reasonable frame rate. Other than that I could go over the little stuff that is wrong but I think we all know you guys just ran out of time so its not really needed. The graphics are sweet and the engines off to a nice start I'll talk to DM Ashura about improving a few things when I see him online. Until then props for a cool demo.

 

Nice to see my art actually in game, seems strange after all this time to see the whole thing in motion. I did notice you used a few out dated bits and pieces but I assume that was down to the rush.

What did people think of the level layout? Obviously some sections don't quite work as intended as the object/gimmicks aren't implemented yet. First time I've ever done it so wondered if people had any advice or criticism for what I was doing right/wrong.

 

I'm getting 7 on my netbook that I use for all my emulators.

It looks awesome but, unplayable for me.

 

pfft, I can get a clean 60 fps with all my normal windows open (firefox 3, x chat)

 

How on earth are you pulling that off? You have a ridiculous amount of RAM or something?

 

There's a new version out with GSI it makes the game run much much better, by deleting objects that are off the screen.

 

From playing the demo, its clear that a lot of work needs to be done, engine wise. I came across a lot of glitches and oversights, such as sinking to the bottom of sand trip ( ? ) but not dying, animation problems, things like that. I understand its at an early stage but I really don't think this should have being released in its current state, you should ignored SAGE and just worked on it at your own pace, just my opinion.

That aside, I was very impressed by the graphics, reminds me of the style used in Choatix, though I'm not a fan of the full screen either. The music was good as well.

Just keep working on it, iron out the problems and you'll be onto a winner and for the love of god, DON'T RUSH IT. I feel you rushed here and its shows, please slow down!

 

(This is based off the initial demo. I have not had time to try this "NEW AND IMPROVED!" demo)

I really don't know where to begin with this.

I think you should have skipped SAGE altogether as what you've put out so far is an incomplete project that fails to show whatever you had envisioned. The whole point of a demo is to get people interested by showing them a small taste of what the game has to offer. This demo has showed nothing other than some pretty visuals and okay music.

Visual wise, this game is pretty good. Lovely foreground, okay backgrounds, and some nice revamp art for Sonic with an okay Metal Sonic which is obviously WIP. (Signpost is hella ugly though.) No real complaints graphically.

The music is "okay". Nothing wrong with it, but it's not exactly inspiring or something I would like to listen to while playing a video game. There's no real catchy melody playing throughout the song so it's mostly forgettable. Sound effects are borrowed from other games so I won't comment on that.

Level design itself however, is pretty horrid. It's just a bunch of downward slopes here and there with some walls that stop you from advancing after you build up speed from these slopes. Sonic has one hard as hell time getting through those loops, even after building up momentum, and some of them are just placed in some pretty pointless locations. (The one on your website's screenshot for example.) It's not fluid at all and I hope you take a look at it.

By the name implied "Gemini", I was hoping to see some actual use of your main gimmick here. Unfortunately, I am left with nothing. Actually, that's how I'm left with this demo. It's just Sonic and his useless counterpart going through a boring level with nothing to do. No enemies to fight, no real puzzles or gimmicks to overcome, nothing.

On top of this, the game suffers from some serious performance issues. There is absolutely no reason why I should be running this at 30fps. I'm not playing Crysis here, I'm playing a 2D platformer where the only two things I can see are rings, Sonic, and Metal. Not to mention the numerous bugs I've encountered such as losing control entirely if I run too fast and hit a wall, animation screw ups, and collision detection. The partner A.I is pretty awful on top of that, even worse than Sonic Advance 3's stupid asshole buddy that hit things you didn't want it too.

Obviously you could have much more in store for the future, but so far this demo shows absolutely nothing. You really should have held off from SAGE and released a demo when you actually had something to show, otherwise this has left me with a dry taste in my mouth. I seriously hope you guys have something to show for next time you release a demo, because right now it's a pretty lackluster game.

 

We're aware of most of issues our game currently has, but appreciate you listing them. They will be fixed in future demos. However, my plan this SAGE was to give people basically a progress report of where we are, so I had no intention of skipping SAGE.

 

You probably should have stuck to videos, screenshots or information on your website. A bad demo can leave a bad impression. Just look take a look at Bionic Commando. Wonderful game, terrible demo.

 

I'm pretty pleased with the reception we've got so far --- and it's starting to recruit more graphics and programming assistance. So I'm happy with the direction we're going.

 

Actually, as from the moment anyone play the game, it's easy to assume the current state of the project is that it's clearly a work in progress, so, making a harsh review, as if it was a completed comercial game isn't going to help it improve at all.

From what I've seem so far, the game has a very well developed concept. The game is highly interesting, and have a lot of potentioal to be explored. It's a lot enjoyable. The game is original and very creative. I personally found the Special Stages (or Bonus Stages, for the matter) very unique. The game art is exceptional! The backgrounds, the scenaries and the sprites are custom, and gives a very original feeling for the game, which is awesome. The level design is good, as well as the itens placement, and makes the game feel just like a original Sonic game. In fact, it looks like just what Sonic might've turned out if it was released to the 32X after Knuckles' Chaotix. The gameplay itself is very good, and the character swapping is a very interesting concept, which can be developed to be something awesome. But, the game has many gameplay flaws, like, getting bloqued by the wrong foreground plane, getting stuck, spring bugs, etc. Mostly because the game is still in a development porccess and is still a tech demo I assume. By no means it's a bad game, mind you, but it still doesn't look like a proper 'game' yet. Other than that, It seems to have a lot of potential, and I really hope you to keep up the good work.

Also, I DO encourage the use as multiple builds as necessary, in order to improve the game, and the experience for the players. After all, it's still a W.I.P, and a fangame being developed by (correct me with I'm wrong) amateur programmers with no experience with professional game development programming at all.

I worked in many companies as of now, and I must say that the progress made is no different, only that it is faster, and you have to deal with deadlines. So this project is pretty much in the right lead.

By the way, about what Chimpo said, SonicCD was all about "pointless" loops.

 

I gotta disagree there. I mean its a work in progress yeah and I'm sure they know in fact I know they know about most of the problems. But at the very least having them listed makes it easy to remember and fix. At the most Chimpo spent a good deal of time going over the demo for them, with positive intentions to help make the game better. Chimpo probably wasn't trying to be harsh just honest and truthfully who would spend that much time writing something just to be nasty.

Since 2006, I learned that a critical analysis of my games by other people is one of the best ways to make it better. Doesn't mean you have to hang on their every word but it does mean that you listen. I think Chimpo did a good thing and I think Ashura and Sonic Warrior are handling the critical analysis very well.

 

I apologize if it comes harsh, I'm just trying to give my honest critical opinion here. I'm not posting just to tell them "OH MAN YOUR GAME SUCKS!". I seriously want them to improve it because I was looking forward to this and I hope they do improve by the time of any future release. I did spend a lot of time on this demo so it wasn't just a review based on a single playthrough. The only way I was able to write that critical review was by playing the fuck out of it.



Seriously.

(I was listening to some other shit that distracted me from this -V)

I made a review based on a demo. A demo's purpose is to get people interested in the project, whether it's just to play the game, or support it by contributing. It's also meant to show off what the project is entirely about. I merely expressed my views of the demo, mainly the second part because there's no way, as an outside party, can contribute to the first part. The review is only based on my viewpoint. I do not speak for anyone else.

Why couldn't you express your opinion without attacking mine? This post would have been fine like this. You expressed YOUR personal opinion on what you've played. They want everyone's input, whether it be positive or negative.

I didn't like that game either for that reason (level design), what are you getting at here?

Please refrain from attacking me if you have no real reason too.

 

...

Holy shit.

I know we don't have a number of things implemented in our game, but if our level is capable of being completed in such a speed this bodes well for a time attack mode. :D

I'll just need to figure out how to challenge you along the way, Chimpo.

 

Haha, I knew that would get your attention.

Unfortunately I must inform you that the time was only obtained by an exploit I found during my play testing.

It appears that you set the keys A, S and D to different speeds. Upon pressing these keys, Sonic goes to that speed immediately and begins to slow down. If you keep spamming it though, you pretty much stay at that same rate of speed the entire time.

All I had to do was find a route and abuse this exploit.

Course, just because I could exploit something, doesn't mean I didn't try to match it with legit old rage inducing jumps.



I could possibly get it down to 49 seconds if my trigger finger didn't hurt.